Transformative data & quality

Background and Vision

There is growing momentum both nationally and internationally to improve and unify the monitoring of cardiac rehabilitation, aiming to enhance the quality of care and outcomes for people with coronary heart disease. Accurate health care quality measurement relies on systems that capture care delivery and patient outcomes effectively, and this can be strengthened in Australia. Developing a national strategy for better data and quality standards remains a priority for Australian cardiac rehabilitation programs.

To address this, key partners including the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association (ACRA), SOLVE-CHD, and the International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (ICCPR) have teamed up. ACRA supports multidisciplinary health professionals in delivering best practices in cardiovascular care. SOLVE-CHD, funded by NHMRC, aims to improve post-discharge care through data integration, technology, partnerships, and capacity building. ICCPR promotes cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation globally.

Our long-term vision for Australian cardiac rehabilitation services includes:

• A well-trained workforce
• Access to electronic recording systems and a reporting platform/dashboard for quality indicators, feedback, and advocacy
• Delivery of care in line with evidence and international quality standards

We understand the need for a flexible approach that accommodates different needs and capabilities across jurisdictions. This document outlines our current strategy for transforming data and quality.

A national evaluation of cardiac rehabilitation data collection and record-keeping processes revealed that over 20% of programs still use paper records, and only 16% are paperless. These rates are lower than those in hospitals and primary care. Our findings support the need for a national, low-burden approach to data capture for quality care.

Structure and Governance

We have formed a national coordinating team – the Australian Cardiac Rehabilitation Certification and Reporting Committee which is supported by three Working Groups. Each working group is aligned with key initiatives delivered by ICCPR. Figure 1 presents a schematic of the structure for delivering the strategy.

The three working groups are supporting (1) certification of providers, (2) having access to systems and an understanding of data collection processes required and (3) certification of programs. The deliverables will ideally see 70% of Australian programs having at least 1 clinician credentialed by mid-2025, having evaluated barriers and enablers to implementation of varied data captures systems with capability for national deidentified data by late-2025 and the recognition of 50 Programs of Excellence nationally by 2026, based on agreed Australian quality standards, endorsed by ACRA.